Thursday, May 3, 2012

Hi everyone! I'm still sewing just not posting. Posting photos from this home in the boonies requires an amount of patience I just don't have. So, until I develop more patience or fix this problem you can keep up with what I'm sewing via my Flickr feed...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35277885@N06/

I'll be back around by summer...just busy with life and other things right now.

Oh, and happy birthday to this perfect little two year old! We love him even more than he loves tractors! Here he is in his Oliver + S Sketchbook shirt I made for his birthday "photoshoot."

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The outfits are finished! It is so hard to make yourself sit down to handwork and hems on a garment you didn't start! But, I am so thankful that Susu makes such lovely things for us!! The kids had other ideas than to have a big photo session this afternoon. But, they do look lovely!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

I love heirloom toddler clothing, but I also like scaled down grown up looks on little boys. I love tiny eton suits too, however of the vintage patterns I have here, I was unsure if the proportions wouldn't look ridiculous on such a tiny little person that K is. I kinda knew the "look" I wanted, but after spending a lot of time looking online for inspiration in both ready-to-wear and sewing patterns decided there really wasn't much out there for this age boy in terms of options. This is what I came up with for a "wardrobe" for K to meld all of the looks I had in mind into one. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

First, I made some tiny vests. For a pattern I used Ottobre "mike vest" from 3/2009. K still wears a size 74cm, so it is a scaled down and lengthened version, but basically the same shape. The twill one has faux pocket flaps and is slightly shorter in length. The seersucker one I drew slightly fuller and added a chest pocket like one on a vest he wore last winter.

If you happen to be in the market for nice twill. I used this fabric for the vest. It was a dream to sew and is super soft and almost drapey. (And, a bargin b/c 1yard of 60" made a pair of shorts, a pair of pants, and a vest for K) I just ordered 2 yards of navy for uniforms for G next fall.

The pattern called for interfacing in the facing, however I just cut the lining piece whole and topstitched the facing fabric to the lining to add an extra layer.

For pants, I made two pairs of short pants. Do you call them capris on a boy? and a pair of shorts. The pants are tweaked oliver + s sailboat pants size 12-18months. I thought the tabs on the sailboat pants would be too busy with a vest, so made a flat front twill pair and an elastic front seersucker pair. The elastic all the way around fit better on his baby belly. The shorts are ottobre bert shorts 3/2009 in a size 74 cm. I just single topstitched all the seams so they would be slightly dressier.

And the finished product made me want to eat him up!! (even if he is a less than cooperative model)

The vest pattern calls for a buckle in the back but I thought that would be too heavy for such a tiny size, but left the little v back on the seersucker.

I made a little faux tab on the back of the twill one, but am not all that wild about it.

The pieces all interchange really easily

And work with rtw and handmade shirts he already has in his closet.

I do have a few other shirts planned for summer but am waiting on a pattern to come in and a trip to the thrift store for a few shirts to cut up.

I've been focused on organizing a few dressier outfits for the tiny man in the house now that the weather is warm to stay. K is almost 2 years old but very tiny. I still like "baby" clothes but wanted a few more grown up boy items for his closet also. K's a hard fit in store bought clothes unless you want to spend a small fortune. Luckily my mom is the queen of beautiful baby boy clothes and was here to visit a few weeks ago. We laid out all sorts of fun outfits for K to wear in the next six months. And, I brainstormed a few others myself in the past week with a little input from my husband. So here is what he has so far...

Our first order of business was K's easter outfit. I did all the construction on this one but the fabric, trim, buttons, and idea was all Susu. For the shirt I used this shirt pattern again, and mom helped me adjust the collar and sleeves for the trim addition. The romper is Michie 137 in a 12 months size. What a fantastic romper pattern for us! Most others are too wide.

Mom and I have had a small saga over finding appropriate white shoes to wear with this, but hopefully he will have some by easter. If not, I think he will wear these sandals with white socks.

I think it is a sweet, simple, non-fussy look and straddles the fence on being too "baby" or too "big boy" quite nicely. G has a to-die-for smocked dress to match that Susu made. I can't wait to finish her dress and get some photos of the two of them together! Hopefully, after the molar he is working on comes through b/c right now everything he wears is soaked with drool within minutes! :)

I'm still here. And, still sewing. The blog has been neglected, though for several reasons. First, we moved to a wonderful home on five acres in the country. However, our internet connection is spotty (not that we mind) and uploading photos is a bit of a chore.

Second, blogging has taken a backseat to our new "backyard." Most of our free time is spent like this...

And, this!

And, this!

And, hanging out with these!

But, I really want to keep up with at least most of what I'm making. I'm lousy at keeping a notebook, and this is my "record."

Today we are at home and it is spring break. Our kids aren't great nappers but definitely needed a day in front of the tv to chill out after several pretty active outdoor days. So, I did get to spend the morning finishing up a few projects and photographing some recently finished things. My most recent sewing has been devoted to the tiny little man in the family. Rather than one really long post, I've got a few more posts on the way....